Arkansas Awards Voter Registration Contract to Nebraska Firm

LITTLE ROCK, AR - Secretary of State Charlie Daniels announced today that he intends to award a Nebraska firm a $5 million contract to set up Arkansas' voter registration computer system.

Daniels said the contract would go to Election Systems and Software of Omaha. He said the company's computer system will provide Arkansas with a uniform centralized database of registered voters in the state. He said the system is used in Nebraska and New Mexico and offers enhancements required under the Help America Vote Act.

Daniels said he would use Arkansas' share of the federal voting improvement funding to pay for the system. He said this would greatly improve the state's voter registration system because right now there is a separate database in each county. He said the new system is secure and user friendly. The system should be up and running by January of next year.